Fact of the day

Information is the most powerful weapon.

Monday

Fact N°
1584

Health claims regarding colon-cleansing and detoxifying products are not supported by clinical research.

After an exhaustive search for peer-reviewed clinical data and after consulting gastroenterologists, Consumer Reports concluded in June 2009 that products that claim to detoxify the colon, or remove solid waste build-up in the intestines, offer little to nothing in the way of health benefits. They also revealed that, contrary to the claims made in one infomercial, solid waste does not build up on the walls of the intestines and threaten to poison the bloodstream.

Tuesday

Fact N°
1581

Many U.S. nuclear reactors are powered by uranium from a most unlikely source.

There are 104 nuclear power reactors in America, operating in 31 states, but the U.S. only mines a fraction of the uranium used to power them. They import the rest of that uranium from Russia (and to a lesser extent, Australia). As a result, about half of the reactors in the U.S. are powered by uranium that came directly from dismantled nuclear weapons built by the Russians during the Cold War.

Wednesday

Fact N°
1582

Since 1999, $146 billion in damages have been awarded in 17 tobacco-related court cases.

U.S. courts have heard over 50 tobacco-related cases since 1999; 32 of them ended with judgments in favor of the defendants (the tobacco companies) while four ended in mistrials. Of those 17 cases that ended with judgments in favor of the plaintiffs, juries awarded a total of over $146 billion in both compensatory and punitive damages. The ongoing appeals process, however, has reduced that sum considerably.

Thursday

Fact N°
1583

No one is authorized to accept the resignation of a Pope in the Catholic Church.

According to the code of canon law (can 332.2) a Pope can resign if he wants to, but there is no one within the organization with the authority to accept it. That same canon asserts a certain infallibility for the Pope, to the extent that his decrees and decisions are beyond any appellate process, meaning he rules much like an absolute monarchy.
Nonetheless, in the 1,900 years of the Papacy, 26 popes have been removed from the office (presumably without canon authority), although the Church does not officially recognize the removal. The first Pope to go was Pontian in 235, the most recent, Pius VI in 1799.

Friday

Fact N°
1585

The one U.S. president who never got married is widely regarded as the worst in history.

A former Pennsylvania Congressman, U.S. ambassador to Russia and lifelong bachelor, James Buchanan served one term as the 15th president from 1857 to 1861 and is blamed for hastening the country toward Civil War in part because he felt the Constitution gave him no authority to take action against succeeding states -- a view not remotely shared by his successor, Abraham Lincoln, regarded as the greatest U.S. president.

Saturday

Fact N°
1586

Two No. 1 draft picks in NHL history have won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

The Conn Smythe Trophy, given each year to the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, was established in 1964, a year after the NHL instituted the amateur draft (now called the Entry Draft). The award has been handed out to 36 players in 43 years, but only two of them were first overall draft picks: Guy Lafleur (1977) and Mario Lemieux (1991 and 1992).

Sunday

Fact N°
1588

President Taft regularly ate 12 ounce steaks for breakfast.

Taft, the 27th U.S. president and 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is easily the heaviest president in the country's history, typically averaging around 300 pounds. However, according to the memoir written by Elizabeth Jaffray, who served as White House housekeeper from 1909 to 1926, Taft's habit of eating 12 ounce steaks for breakfast, among other gastronomic decisions, had the president pushing 400 pounds at one late point in his administration.